A  TRAIL  OF  LIGHT 
AROUND  THE  GLOBE 


AMERICAN  BAPTIST 
FOREIGN  MISSION  SOCIETY 

FORD  BUILDING  - - BOSTON  MASS. 


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JSfveon  Hill  Jro</'oj. 


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J\  trail  of  Eight  around  the  Globe 


THAT  man  is  crazy,”  said  America  one  hundred 
years  ago,  when  young  Adoniram  Judson  turned 
from  a  comfortable  living  and  a  brilliant  career  in  his 
native  land,  and,  with  his  bride,  set  his  face  toward 
distant,  darkened  Burma,  there  to  give  his  life  to  a  people 
who  neither  invited  him  to  come  nor  wanted  him  to  stay. 


THAT  man  is  a  hero,”  says  America  today  as 
it  looks  back  over  the  century  and  realizes  that 
the  little  spark,  kindled  in  the  heart  of  that  young 


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minister,  has  become  a  veritable  trail  of  light  around 
the  globe.  Let  us  now,  in  this  centennial  year,  take  a 
little  journey  in  the  wake  of  this  light  and  see  where  it 
leads,  and  what  it  will  disclose. 

THE  natural  starting  point  for  such  a  pilgrimage  must 
be  Burma,  the  oldest  and,  in  point  of  results,  larg¬ 
est  of  our  mission  fields.  Here,  in  this  richest  province 
of  all  India,  are  gathered  forty  different  races,  and  twelve 
millions  of  people,  with  ten  millions  of  Buddhists.  Into 
this  stronghold  of  heathenism,  into  the  midst  of  this 
people,  intolerant  of  all  other  religions,  came,  first  Jud- 
son  and  then  a  long  line  of  worthy  successors  bearing 
the  light.  It  would  take  far  too  long  to  recount  the 
discouragements  they  met,  the  obstacles  they  overcame 
and  the  patience  with  which  they  pursued  their  chosen 
labors.  Let  the  results  speak  for  them.  Exclusive 
of  the  Burmans,  among  whom  the  work  was  begun,  the 
efforts  of  the  missionaries  have  been  centered  among 
eight  races  of  which  the  Talains,  Kachins,  Karens,  Shans 
and  Chins  are  most  important.  Especially  noteworthy 
has  been  the  work  among  the  Karens,  a  people  unusually 
susceptible  to  the  gospel,  through  their  traditions  of  the 
flood,  and  of  a  God  about  whom  they  would  some  time 
learn  from  the  white  man.  A  mighty  change  has  been 
brought  about  among  these  peoples  within  a  century,  — - 
a  revolution  that  has  overturned  things  socially,  politi¬ 
cally  and  religiously.  Heathenism  is  being  undermined, 
idols  are  being  deserted,  and  Buddha  totters  on  his 
throne.  The  priests  can  no  longer  hold  the  people,  who 
turn  from  them  to  the  new  leader  as  if  drawn  by  a  magnet. 

WE  find  religious  work  in  Burma  carried  on  in  thirty- 
two  stations,  by  191  missionaries  and  2,483 
native  workers,  whose  efforts  have  resulted  in  1,009 


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churches  with  a  membership  of  nearly  66,000  and  614 
Sunday  schools  with  25,000  pupils.  Equally  notable 
have  been  the  results  along  educational  lines.  As  a  monu¬ 
ment  to  the  untiring  efforts  of  our  teachers,  there  are  in 
Burma  today  743  schools,  including  Rangoon  Baptist 
College,  two  theological  seminaries  and  forty-four  board¬ 
ing  and  high  schools,  enrolling  a  total  of  28,626  pupils. 
Strong  emphasis  has  been  laid  upon  medical  work  and 
last  year  nine  medical  missionaries,  in  four  good  hospitals, 
made  the  bodies  of  over  three  thousand  natives  fit 
temples  for  the  spirit  to  dwell  in. 

AVERY  important  work  is  being  most  acceptably 
done  by  the  American  Baptist  Mission  Press  at 
Rangoon,  which,  under  the  efficient  direction  of  Mr.  F.  D. 
Phinney,  puts  much  inspiring  literature  into  the  hands 
of  the  natives. 

TODAY  the  great  problem  in  Burma  is  to  reach 
the  Chinese,  who  are  coming  to  the  country  in 
vast  numbers  and  are  taking  the  industrial  activities 
from  the  Burmans.  It  is  evident  that  the  future  des¬ 
tiny  of  Burma  depends  upon  reaching  these  Chinese 
immigrants. 

BUT  the  trail  of  light  leads  us  on  to  the  northeast 
corner  of  India  to  Assam,  the  melting  pot  of  the 
East,  where  six  millions  of  people  make  known  their 
thoughts  in  eighty  different  languages.  Here,  in  the 
valleys,  we  find  Hinduism  with  its  rank  idolatry,  shock¬ 
ing  immorality  and  hearty  contempt  for  any  new  re¬ 
ligion;  while  among  the  hills  dwell  the  Animists,  —  the 
Garos,  Rabhas,  Nagas  and  others,  who,  with  cruel 
rites  and  sacrifices,  pay  homage  to  malignant  spirits 
of  the  air. 


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TT  is  here,  among  these  hill  tribes,  that  we  see  the  great - 
est  manifestations  of  the  triumph  of  the  gospel. 
Wonderful  tales  reach  our  ears  of  conversions  from  spirit- 
worship  to  the  worship  of  the  one  true  Spirit  —  tales  of 
children  transformed  from  filth  and  nakedness  to  clean¬ 
liness  and  respectability,  their  faces  aglow  with  the  glory 
of  the  new-found  Saviour.  Many  are  the  instances 
that  we  see  of  shrines  deserted,  of  altars  broken  down, 
and  of  prejudice  and  superstition  vanishing  like  mist 
before  the  rising  sun. 

TTERE  in  Assam  the  light  reveals  to  us  sixty-six 
-L  J-  missionaries  and  404  native  workers,  laboring 
together  in  thirteen  stations,  while  13,000  Christians 
are  worshiping  in  the  137  churches,  and  in  193  Sunday 
schools  7,200  scholars  are  learning  the  lessons  from  the 
lips  of  the  teacher.  Here,  also,  standing  like  beacons  in 
the  midst  of  ignorance  and  poverty  are  234  schools, 
including  seven  boarding  and  high  schools,  and  one 
training  school,  which  for  over  5,500  eager  youths  point 
the  way  to  higher  things.  And  industrial  work  among 
such  a  people  as  this  is  doing  wonders.  Medical  missions 
are  represented  here  by  two  hospitals  in  which  nearly 
13,000  diseased  were  treated  last  year.  Truly  a  wonder¬ 
ful  heritage  is  Assam,  perhaps  the  most  promising  of  all 
our  mission  fields. 

t)UT  from  South  India  gleams  the  light  and  to  that 
'  point  we  go.  In  this  region  Hinduism  with  its 
rigid  caste  system,  with  its  naked  immorality,  with  its 
330,000,000  gods,  with  its  girl  widows  —  has  long  reigned 
supreme.  In  the  two  neighboring  fields,  South  India, 
embracing  the  work  among  the  Telugus,  and  in  Bengal- 
Orissa,  conditions  are  very  similar.  Though  caste  has 
been  a  terrible  obstacle,  it  shows  signs  of  weakening  and 


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many  examples  can  be  cited  of  ostracism  for  the  sake  of 
Christianity. 

FROM  the  seed  sown  in  this  ground  we  are  shown  a 
sturdy  growth.  In  twenty-nine  South  India  sta¬ 
tions,  with  a  working  force  of  113  missionaries  and  1,671 
natives,  the  church  has  in  twenty  years  increased  ten 
times  as  fast  as  the  population,  the  147  churches  today 
numbering  a  membership  of  nearly  67,000,  while  16,000 
receive  instruction  in  the  592  Sunday  schools.  Many 
notable  types  of  Christianity  have  been  developed  and 
a  spirit  of  sacrifice  is  noticeable  in  the  missionary  work 
which  many  are  conducting  among  their  brothers  in 
Africa.  By  friendly  words  and  open  attendance  at 
the  churches,  many  of  the  Brahmans  are  showing 
that  Christ  means  more  than  caste. 

THE  great  problem  in  South  India  has  been  that  of 
self-support  and  this  problem  the  707  schools, 
high,  industrial  and  secondary,  with  their  enrolled  mem¬ 
bership  of  nearly  19,000  are  helping  to  solve.  To  a 
people  long  afflicted  with  tropical  diseases,  medical  aid 
is  a  great  relief  and  last  year  21,000  patients  were  treated 
in  the  five  hospitals. 

IN  the  Bengal -Orissa  field  with  nine  stations  twenty- 
five  missionaries  and  396  native  workers  have  estab¬ 
lished  twenty-three  churches  with  1,621  members,  and 
sixty- three  Sunday  schools  with  over  2,200  scholars. 
Two  large  institutions,  a  Bible  school  and  a  Boys’  High 
School,  and  162  smaller  schools  comprise  the  educational 
equipment.  Although  there  are  but  three  doctors  and 
one  hospital,  over  seven  thousand  patients  were  given 
relief  last  year. 


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T)UT  the  trail  now  leads  us  across  the  border  from 
India,  to  where  the  empire  of  the  dragon  lies  in 
all  its  vastness,  teeming  with  people,  embracing  within 
its  confines  one  fourth  the  population  of  the  globe. 
China  is  a  nation  proud  of  her  traditions,  fondly  cling¬ 
ing  to  the  iron-bound  customs  of  a  bygone  age.  Here, 
missionaries  have  come  in  contact  with  three  great 
religions  —  Confucianism  with  its  system  of  morals  and 
ancestor  worship;  Buddhism,  with  its  idolatrous  prac¬ 
tices,  and  Taoism,  with  its  moral  philosophy  and  spirit 
worship.  To  meet  the  contemptuous  pride  of  the  learned 
class;  to  overcome  the  falsehood  and  superstition  of 
these  three  great  religions,  has  been  no  easy  task.  In 
addition  to  this  our  missionaries  were  confronted  with  a 
rotten  social  system  —  a  system  where  women  were 
degraded,  where  child  murder  was  not  a  crime  and  where 
opium  had  set  its  blight  upon  the  home.  Yet,  the  heart 
of  the  people  was  not  at  rest;  they  were  searching  for 
the  peace  which  their  religion  did  not  give. 

TNTO  such  a  field,  then,  came  our  missionaries,  and, 
undaunted  by  the  obstacles,  they  have  never  swerved 
from  their  purpose  until  today  in  twenty-one  stations 
throughout  the  empire,  172  missionaries  and  544  native 
workers  are  upholding  the  banner  of  the  cross;  while  in 
155  churches  more  than  6,300  members  are  enrolled  and 
nearly  7,000  scholars  gather  weekly  in  the  159  Sunday 
schools.  A  thorough  educational  system  is  represented 
by  three  colleges,  three  academies,  two  girls’  schools  and 
a  woman’s  Bible  school,  besides  170  lesser  institutions, 
enrolling  about  5,000  pupils.  The  China  Baptist  Pub¬ 
lication  Society  at  Shanghai  gives  valuable  aid  by  its 
distribution  of  books  and  pamphlets.  Last  year  the 
twenty-four  medical  missionaries  on  the  field  treated 
23,000  patients  in  the  ten  hospitals. 


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\1JHAT  missions  has  done  for  China,  recent  his- 
*  *  tory  tells;  what  missions  will  do  for  China,  the 
Christians  of  the  world  must  say.  More  doors  are  open 
than  ever  before;  there  is  a  chance  for  “  the  most  momen¬ 
tous  advance  of  Christianity  since  Paul  crossed  over 
into  Macedonia.”  China  is  awake!  She  calls  for 
workers.  She  listens  for  the  message. 

TN  Japan,  whence  now  shines  the  light,  we  learn  that 
the  planting  of  the  cross  has  been  attended  with 
many  difficulties  as  well  as  many  encouragements. 
Here,  in  an  area  but  little  larger  than  that  of  California, 
are  crowded  fifty-one  millions  of  people.  The  Japanese 
as  a  people  are  intelligent,  but  a  very  important  trait 
is  their  apparent  lack  of  any  moral  principle.  Here,  as 
in  China,  three  great  religions  have  long  defied  Christian¬ 
ity:  Confucianism,  Buddhism  and  Shintoism,  the 
worship  of  heroes  and  departed  emperors. 

T^ROM  the  moment  that  Commodore  Perry  knocked 
at  the  barred  gates  of  this  island  empire  and  de¬ 
manded  admittance  in  the  name  of  a  waiting  world, 
until  now,  when  4,000  Baptist  Christians  are  serving 
the  Lord  in  thirty-three  churches,  our  missionaries  have 
been  helping  shape  the  ideals  of  this  little  nation.  The 
work  done  here  by  the  fifty-eight  missionaries  and  201 
native  workers  shows  true  progress,  for  in  addition  to  the 
churches,  196  Sunday  schools  have  enrolled  nearly 
12,000  pupils.  We  learn  of  the  change  in  the  lives  and 
character  of  the  natives  from  a  Japanese  contractor 
who  says,  “  The  only  men  I  can  trust  without  watching 
are  the  men  who  have  accepted  the  Jesus  teaching.” 

JAPAN  is  the  paradise  of  children,  and  kindergarten 
work  is  of  great  importance.  Twenty-five  schools 
of  all  grades,  including  the  theological  seminary,  woman’s 


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Bible  school,  home  schools,  academy  and  training  schools 
are  giving  to  1,450  keen  oriental  minds  the  best  of  the 
learning  of  the  Occident. 

IN  and  out  among  the  islands  that  make  up  the  Japan¬ 
ese  empire  flits  the  little  gospel  ship,  the  “  Fukuin 
Maru,”  with  its  consecrated  captain,  Luke  W.  Bickel, 
and  its  crew  of  native  Christians,  bearing  the  message 
to  isolated  ports  that  otherwise  could  never  be  reached. 
Thus  on  land  and  sea  is  the  cross  being  lifted  up. 

DOWN  deep  in  the  heart  of  Africa,  where  we  find 
humanity  at  its  lowest  stage,  even  there  do  we 
catch  a  gleam  of  the  trail  of  the  light.  In  the  Congo, 
we  find  a  people  long  crushed  under  the  tyranny  of  a 
cruel  king,  a  people  almost  without  religion,  delighting 
in  every  form  of  evil.  Here  fetishism  holds  sway,  fetish¬ 
ism  with  its  superstitious  worship  of  an  unknown  power ; 
with  its  cruel  rites  and  bloody  tortures  of  witch  doctors. 

YET  today,  a  people  who  but  a  few  years  ago  were 
brandishing  bows  and  spears  and  shrieking  war- 
whoops  are  carrying  hymn  books  and  singing  the  songs 
of  the  church.  Today,  where  a  few  years  ago  were 
cannibalism,  paganism  and  savagery,  are  twenty 
churches,  with  4,500  members,  forty-seven  missionaries 
and  294  native  workers.  Where  a  few  years  ago  were 
naked,  savage  children  are  today  104  Sunday  schools 
with  6,000  pupils.  Where  were  recently  only  dense 
ignorance  and  poverty  are  175  schools, —  boarding, 
high,  industrial,  and  others,  with  6,675  pupils,  lifting 
a  people  used  only  to  primitive  methods  of  agriculture, 
out  of  degradation  into  lives  of  service.  In  a  country 
where  sleeping  sickness  and  other  tropical  diseases  claim 
their  victims  by  the  hundreds,  and  where  the  cruel 


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tortures  of  the  witch  doctor  only  aggravate  the  difficul¬ 
ties,  the  seven  doctors  and  three  hospitals  are  an  inesti¬ 
mable  boon. 

DUT  now  a  new  gleam  appears  and  we  see,  lying  just 
J— '  at  the  door  of  Asia  a  little  group  of  islands,  the 
latest  and  one  of  the  most  promising  of  our  mission  fields. 
Here  we  find  eight  millions  of  little  people  who  fifteen 
years  ago  had  not  a  church,  a  decent  school,  or  a  doctor 
on  their  islands;  in  whose  midst  misery  and  dirt  were  ap¬ 
palling  ;  where  hookworm  slew  its  thousands  and  malaria 
its  tens  of  thousands  annually.  To  these  Philippines, 
following  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  we  see  coming  our  mis¬ 
sionaries.  And  what  a  welcome  is  theirs!  Never 
before  in  the  history  of  missions  had  there  been  found  a 
people  so  eager  to  hear  the  gospel,  so  ready  to  receive 
its  messengers.  We  see  them  coming  from  the  east 
and  from  the  west,  crowding  into  the  little  chapel  built 
to  hold  them,  until  the  walls  burst  outward  with  the 
multitude. 

/\  ND  notable  results  meet  our  eyes.  The  upper  classes, 
at  first  disdainful,  are  becoming  more  and  more 
friendly  to  the  work,  and  as  for  the  natives,  searching 
the  Scriptures  is  proving  more  fascinating  to  them  than 
head-hunting,  and  the  battlecry  is  succeeded  by  the 
Christian  hymn.  In  two  years  the  churches  have  in¬ 
creased  in  number  sixty-seven  per  cent.,  now  numbering 
fifty-one,  while  the  membership  of  3,800  is  an  increase  of 
twenty-nine  per  cent.  There  are  also  forty-nine  Sunday 
schools  with  4,600  pupils,  twenty-nine  missionaries  and 
1 13  native  workers.  Mental  development  is  provided 
for  by  eight  schools  of  all  kinds,  with  1,700  enrolled. 
The  Philippine  Baptist  Mission  Press  at  Iloilo  is  doing 
much  to  get  the  printed  page  before  the  eyes  of  the  native 
reader. 


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THE  importance  of  medical  missions  cannot  be  over¬ 
estimated,  for  oftentimes  the  conquest  of  the  soul 
can  be  made  only  after  the  body  has  been  healed.  There 
are  in  the  islands  today  two  medical  missionaries  and 
in  the  two  hospitals  last  year  over  7,500  patients  received 
the  healing  touch. 

BUT  there  remains  yet  another  field,  a  little  different 
in  the  character  of  its  work.  In  Europe,  where 
Baptists  are  a  weak  and  struggling  body,  often  perse¬ 
cuted,  money  is  appropriated  and  workers  are  sent  to 
strengthen  the  weak.  In  Germany,  Spain,  Denmark, 
Sweden,  Norway,  Russia  and  Finland  good  work  is 
being  done.  Theological  seminaries  at  Hamburg  and 
in  Sweden,  and  the  Cassel  Publishing  House  are  im¬ 
portant  agencies  in  propagating  Baptist  principles  in 
these  countries.  There  are  throughout  Europe  1,182 
churches,  2,483  preachers  and  over  139,000  church  mem¬ 
bers. 

THUS  the  trail  of  light  has  led  around  the  globe,  and  a 
glorious  trail  it  is.  Our  missions,  eleven  in  num¬ 
ber,  comprise  a  total  of  127  mission  stations,  with  701 
missionaries  and  6,106  native  workers.  We  have  forty- 
four  lay  missionaries,  consisting  of  twenty  doctors, 
thirteen  teachers,  four  evangelists,  six  business  men  and 
a  sea  captain.  As  the  result  of  a  century  of  evangeliza¬ 
tion  there  are  today  in  non-Christian  lands  1 ,575 
churches;  in  all  foreign  lands  counting  Europe,  2,75/1 
with  305,600  church  members  enrolled,  and  a  total 
number  of  over  585,000  baptisms.  The  Bible  is  being 
taught  in  1,970  Sunday  schools  to  over  80,000  pupils 
exclusive  of  Europe.  Our  educational  work  is  conducted 
in  three  colleges,  twenty-three  theological  seminaries  and 
training  schools,  and  over  2,200  other  schools,  with  a 


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total  enrolment  of  over  73,000  pupils.  The  ministry  of 
healing  is  rendered  by  fifty-eight  medical  missionaries, 
in  twenty-seven  hospitals  and  fifty-seven  dispensaries. 
Last  year  100,000  patients  received  medical  treatment. 

TOURING  the  century  our  missionaries  have  trans- 
^  lated  the  Bible,  wholly  or  in  part,  into  more  than 
thirty  dialects  and  languages.  Three  publication  plants 
on  foreign  fields  help  to  scatter  the  good  seed,  by  print¬ 
ing  and  distributing  Bibles,  periodicals,  hymn  books, 
text-books  and  other  literature. 

T)UT  with  all  our  rejoicing  over  a  century  of  Baptist 
progress,  we  do  not  forget  the  noble  work  of  the 
other  denominations,  who  often  in  cooperation  have 
helped  make  possible  the  accomplishment  of  much  that 
might  otherwise  have  remained  undone.  Cooperation 
is  becoming  more  and  more  an  essential  of  success  on 
the  foreign  field.  In  this  connection  mention  should 
be  made  of  the  great  interdenominational  University 
of  Nanking;  of  the  educational  system  at  Chengtu, 
which  includes  a  university,  an  academy,  and  several 
secondary  schools,  and  of  the  West  China  Union 
University  in  which  the  Baptists,  Friends  and  Metho¬ 
dists  unite;  also  of  the  union  work  with  the  Presbyte¬ 
rians  in  Japan.  In  healing  as  well,  we  are  working  side 
by  side  with  the  Presbyterians  in  China  and  in  the 
Philippines,  and  with  the  Methodists  at  Huchow. 

A  GLORIOUS  record  we  say,  and  well ;  but  what  of 
‘L*-  the  future?  What  of  the  unreached  millions?  How 
can  we  enter  the  open  doors?  The  Foreign  Mission 
Society  estimates  that  fifty  new  missionary  families 
are  needed  to  keep  up  the  work  properly  where  it  has 
already  been  established.  In  Burma  several  stations 


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are  without  resident  missionaries.  In  China  and  Japan 
are  marvelous  opportunities  not  only  for  preachers,  but 
for  teachers,  doctors,  men  skilled  in  industrial  work, 
who  are  capable  of  blazing  new  trails  in  the  wilderness. 

NOT  only  men,  but  equipment  and  buildings  are 
needed  as  well.  Fifteen  churches  and  chapels, 
homes  for  missionaries,  teachers’  residences  for  Burma,  a 
dining  hall  for  Rangoon  Baptist  College,  five  hospitals, 
twenty-one  other  buildings  from  boys’  dormitories  to  col¬ 
lege  halls,  —  these  are  some  of  the  things  that  must  be 
forthcoming  if  the  Kingdom  is  to  be  advanced.  And 
added  to  this  are  other  buildings  to  the  number  of 
seventy,  —  land,  sewage  systems  and  electric  lighting 
plants,  all  totalling  about  $325,000. 


O  provide  these  things  and  to  advance  the  light 


still  farther  is  the  work,  not  of  the  Society  but  of 
the  churches,  and  of  the  individual  members  of  the 
churches,  who,  although  they  cannot  go  to  the  foreign 
fields  themselves,  can,  by  their  contributions,  reach  out 
hands  across  the  sea  to  lift  the  heathen  up  into  the  trail 
of  light  that  leads,  like  Bethlehem’s  star,  to  the  feet  of 
the  King. 


14 


TfOR  additional  literature  or  any  other 
•*  information  regarding  the  work  of 
the  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission 
Society,  write  to  any  of  the  following:  — 

1.  The  nearest  District  Secretary. 

2.  Department  of  Missionary  Edu¬ 
cation,  23  East  26th  Street,  New  York 
City. 

3.  Literature  Department,  Box  41, 
Boston,  Mass. 


16 


1060-10M-6-15-14. 


SAMUEL  USHER 
BOSTON 


